The rains have just subsided. The sun announced it presence briefly and left. A bright sky hanging over a tension-packed Accra, the capital of Ghana. The streets were dead, but the buildings were alive with thousands of football fans waiting to flock the then Accra Sports Stadium, now Ohene Djan Sports Stadium.

A football rivalry was in the waiting. Old foes Hearts of Oak [based in Accra] and Asante Kotoko [Kumasi-based team] were battle ready to set Accra alive in a midweek league game. It was May 9, 2001. A sea of fans drenched in hot red took one side of the stadium to ransom while bright rainbow colours decorated the other half.

Hostilities had unfolded within the white lines of the stadium. Ironic cheers and boos filled the atmosphere. Applause and chanting diffuse the tension intermittently, but none of the sides was prepared to go home a defeated unit. However, there was a loser and a winner. The score line ushered in the unexpected.

The Phobians [Hearts] were leading the Porcupine Warriors [Kotoko] 2-1 with only five minutes to stoppage time. Agitated fans hurled missiles on the pitch. The police responded with tear gas into the stands. Gates were tight locked. The fans had nowhere to seek refuge. They were trapped. Stampede ensued. Hell broke loose. Death was on rampage.

A black Wednesday

The terrible statistics showed that 127 football fans died. They were choked to death – compressive asphyxia. Both the dead and unconscious were mixed and bundled together into car trunks and ambulances and rushed to major hospitals. Inept, immobile bodies of young and energetic men and a few women clogged hospital morgues.

People besieged hospitals as news filtered in to identify dead or alive relatives. It was a sorrowful moment. Women and children wept uncontrollably as they kept punching motionless bodies lying on the floors of morgues to respond to their cries. The nation was at a standstill – all official engagements were cancelled. A national mourning had struck. It was the longest and darkest night in Africa football history.

Yaw Ampofo-Ankrah, a sports journalist in Accra, witnessed the fatal incident. “As I made my way towards the staircase, I froze! What I saw is something I will never forget for the rest of my life,” he told the BBC. “The most appalling look of fear and hopelessness was written across the faces of dying innocent young men. They were dying and there was nothing anybody could do to save them.”

A sad year

The Accra stampede was the fourth football disaster to strike Africa in four weeks that same year. On April 11, 43 people were killed at a stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. Eight fans perished in another stampede in Lubumbashi, DR Congo, on April 29. And three days prior to Ghana’s incident, fighting broke out among fans at a football match in Ivory Coast, killing one person and injuring 39.

To hell and back

Abdul Mohammed survived the disaster. He was believed dead and carted to the morgue with several other still bodies in a pick-up truck. The 35-year-old was lined-up among the dead on the arid floor of a large air-conditioned room pending preparation into the frozen world. He gained consciousness when he felt a heavy and sharp load on his left foot. Apparently, someone had stepped on his foot in the course of the melee.

“It was only God. I would have been counted among the dead. That nightmare still haunts me. I sometimes hear and see dying people screaming at that stand in my dreams. I’ll never forget. It was horror.

“A lot of people were on top of me that night. Blood was all over as people were crushed to death. I tried to force myself out, but my strength had gone. I didn’t know how I passed out. It was a big miracle for me to have my eyes opened at the mortuary, else I would have been buried alive,” the mechanic told Goal.com 10 years after the fateful incident.

Herbert Mensah, was then the chairman of Asante Kotoko and was in the thick of the rescue efforts. “I remember rushing down there and shouting at people; I think it was on the third body that one or two others also got involved. It was so pathetic; there was one guy who I was picking up and I remember him telling me in a low tone, ‘leave me I’m not dead o’… How I got through in the end, where all the others got the strength from, I don’t know.”

The police

Several Ghanaians put the blame on the doorstep of the police for over reacting. “They rained tear gas on us like animals. They had no sympathy as we suffered to breath. They kept firing as we screamed and struggled to survive,” Frank Mills, another survivor said to Goal.com.
Six police officers – Assistant Superintendents of Police John Asare Naami, Faakye Kumi, Frank Awuah, Francis Aryee, Benjamin B. Bakomora and Chief Superintendent of Police, Koranteng Mintah – were held responsible for the tragedy. However, two years after Africa’s worst sporting tragedy, they walked free courtesy of a seven-member jury of a High Court.
“The fact that 127 people perished, grievous as that is, would not have been made any better if the senior police officers were unjustly punished for these deaths,” defence lawyer Yoni Kulendi told the BBC after the ruling.

The sentencing of the policemen or holding someone responsible for the gruesome murder would not bring back the 127 to live, but it would have soothed the pains of the distraught families and the 148 children of the deceased who are being catered for by a Stadium Disaster Fund.

Mohammed still visits the stadium to watch games after putting it on hold for close to four years. However, as he walks pass a giant monument erected outside the stadium in remembrance of the departed, it constantly reminds him to put up a gentleman’s behaviour in the stands to protect the beautiful game from turning ugly. He has had chance to counsel agitating fans around him in the stands to shelf their anger. The Hearts of Oak aficionado is abiding by the inscription on the memorial, “I am my brother’s keeper”.

As Ghana mark the 10th anniversary of the disaster today, may the monument continue to remind the millions of football fans across the continent in general and Ghana in particular that never again will they allow their emotions to send a single soul into the belly of the earth.

By Kent Mensah, for Goal.com

Meri Nana-Ama Danquah is gifted with the prowess of playing with words which compels one to continue to read her works and even call for more. The native Ghanaian is versatile and her literary works exude professionalism. She authored the groundbreaking memoir, Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Depression.
She also edited three anthologies: Becoming American: Personal Essays by First Generation Immigrant Women, Shaking the Tree: New Fiction and Memoir by Black Women, and most recently, The Black Body. Danquah’s writing has been featured in several magazines and newspapers – The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice, Allure, Essence, Emerge and Los Angeles Magazine.

I caught up with her in the West African nation of Ghana to tell us all about herself and her profession:

Briefly tell us about yourself

Wow. Where to even begin? I was born in Ghana and raised mostly in the United States. I am now based primarily in Accra, Ghana. I’m a mother, an avid reader, an actress, an author, an editor, and a ghostwriter. Hopefully by 2012 I’ll be able to add filmmaker to that list.

Obviously, you’re a woman with many hats. Which do you enjoy doing most?

That’s like asking a parent to choose which one of their kids he or she loves the most. Each one of the things I do contains a spirit and a magic all its own and, as such, offers its own unique joy and satisfaction.

What motivates you to write?

The need to continue eating and paying bills. Just kidding. Well, maybe I’m being a little serious. I don’t think most writers have the luxury, financially or creatively, of being motivated. By that I mean most professional writers, people who are publishing or trying to publish, cannot afford to write only when the “spirit” hits them or when they suddenly find themselves inspired. Completing a full length work requires discipline and hard work, not just inspiration and talent. Also, I think most writers have a backlog of projects. If I didn’t have to worry about money for survival and I could devote every hour of every day to my writing, it would still take me more than one lifetime to get through all the ideas for stories, books, plays, and movies that I have floating around in my brain. And as if that’s not bad enough, I get new ideas every week so the “to do” list keeps getting longer!

Any role models?

Ah, another “impossible” question. I started out as a poet. In that genre, I admire the work of Lucille Clifton, Audre Lorde, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Kim Addonizio, Yusef Komunyakaa, LeRoi Jones, Kofi Awoonor, Kofi Anyidoho, and Reetika Vazirani. In fiction and nonfiction my tastes are quirky and inconsistent, I can talk more about individual books than individual writers. The Stone Boat by Andrew Solomon is brilliant, as is Drown by Junot Diaz. Edwidge Danticat’s Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work really spoke to the core of who I am in a way nothing has since, perhaps, Eavan Boland’s Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time. Danzy Senna’s Where Did You Sleep Last Night? taught me a lot about the importance of honesty in a writer’s work and the price we must sometimes pay for it. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s Purple Hibiscus, Helon Habila’s Waiting on an Angel, Aminatta Forna’s The Devil That Danced on Water, and Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come are all breathtaking and they have taught me to not be afraid to write about Africa, in my way and on my terms. I’m anxiously awaiting the May 2011 publication of Catherine McKinley’s book Indigo: In Search of the Color That Seduced the World. I’ve read the first few chapters and was blown away. It’s an important and powerful book.

Take us through your leisure time.

People call me a workaholic but I don’t see myself that way. I have been blessed with the ability to make my living doing what I most love, so shutting down the computer at 5pm and calling it a day is not as appealing an option for me as it is for some workaday folks. I will often spend my evenings and weekends reading or writing, not because I have to but because I want to. I want to finish that poem or that story and I can think of no place else I’d rather be than at my desk. I also enjoy spending time with my daughter. When she’s home from university, she and I hang out a lot. We go to the movies, we travel, we go shopping, we eat out at restaurants or we just sit around and talk. She’s got a great sense of humour so we do a lot of laughing together. I have a very small group of girlfriends in Accra, and in Los Angeles, and in Washington, D.C. and in New York. I spend a good deal of time in all of those places. Wherever I happen to be, I always make time to see my sister-friends, as I call them. If I’m dating or in a relationship with someone I will, of course, spend some of my leisure time with him as well.

Which subject(s) interest you most and what are your reasons?

I like to say that I know a little bit about everything in general and a whole lot about nothing in particular. Every subject fascinates me, especially if the person who is teaching or speaking with me is clearly passionate about it. That said, I’m more fascinated by some things than others. I often say that I’m not political but that’s not entirely true. I’m extremely political, but not in the way that people use the word these days; I’m not political in the US’s Republican/Democrat way or Ghana’s NDC/NPP way. Party politics, in my opinion, can be narrow and destructive, with people getting so caught up in the game of one-upping the other side that they forget entirely that their purpose is to serve their constituents and citizens and to do what is in their best interest. I’m more interested in grassroots politics, in everyday people becoming active and realising that they are empowered to navigate their own future and the future of their land. To that end, I’m interested in issues of social justice, especially ones that concern themselves with ending violence against women, exploitation of children for labour, trafficking of human body parts, eradicating poverty and bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots. I try to do my part to raise awareness about these issues. My reasons? I’ll answer that by quoting the English statesman, Edmond Burke, who said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Among all your writings/books which is your favourite and any particular reason for that?

Once again, it’s like asking a parent to choose their favourite child. I’m sure that even if the parent could offer up the name of one child, the answer would change the next day to the name of one of his or her other children. I am proud of all the work that I’ve done. There are times when I’m more drawn to one than the others but that changes so quickly and often that it’s impossible to label any of them a favourite.

Are writers born or created? Explain.

You’re asking me? How would I know? I can only speak for and of myself…and in that case the answer is, “Both.” I believe I was born with my love of language, but it was nurtured by all of my mentors, many of whom are people I’ve never met, authors of books that changed my life and that drew me deeper into this desire to put pen to paper. I also studied. I took independent workshops, I went to formal school programmes.

Who is your audience?

My audience is whoever picks up my work and reads it. The whole point of reading is to be introduced to a world of the author’s creation, to see the world from his or her point of view. I would venture to say that it is every writer’s wish to have an audience that is beyond his or her wildest imagination, comprised of people who may seemingly be the most unlikely to be drawn to the author’s work.

On the average, how long does it take you to complete a book?

When I’m ghostwriting, I can complete a client’s book in as little as a few months. The downside, though, is that it means my own work has to be placed on the back burner. Because of this, it has taken me over ten years to complete a book of prose. I’ll be spending the months of May and June at a writer’s colony in the US to finish that manuscript.

Whose memoir are you hoping to pen one day?

As a writer of literary nonfiction/memoir, I have no desire to pen anyone’s memoirs except my own.

How would you describe your style of writing?

I’m the wrong person to ask that question. My job is to write. I’ll leave the reviewing, critiquing and describing to those whose job it is to do such things.

When should we expect your next major book?

My next book should be out by 2012, insha’Allah [God willing].

IIJ alumnus Kent Mensah on Global Journalist radio

Last week, I had the opportunity to be a guest on Global Journalist, a radio, television, and internet program that brings together journalists and other experts from around the world to discuss topics in the international news.

Host and producer of GJ, Tim Wall

The goal of the programme – hosted and produced by versatile Tim Wall – is to tell the story of the storytellers.

Last week’s edition discussed indigenous journalist and how local communities and their issues are being covered around the world. The guests on the show were superb and impregnated with issues on the ground. They were:

Eric Jackson, Editor, Panama News, Kirstie Parker, Editor, Koori Mail, Australia, Marley Shebala, Journalist, Navajo Times, Arizona. And yours truly, Kent Mensah, Journalist, Africa News, Ghana
Listen, watch and enjoy the show via this link:

http://globaljournalist.org/radio/2011/02/24/

One of Africa’s hottest and sensational models is in the making. At age 21, Ghanaian-born Sarah Siakie, is already making waves in New York, USA where she is based. The architecture student is crazy about modeling and is on the verge of realizing her dreams after winning a competition that guaranteed her a place to audition with producers of America’s Next Top Model reality show.

Suave Siakie is talented, successful, and has a sparkling personality that can grace the covers of top class fashion magazines globally. The photogenic modeling star is never afraid to fail and looks forward to impress at the show which has gained worldwide respect.

I spoke to her for my network AfricaNews about her future:

AfricaNews: Briefly tell us about yourself?

Sarah Siakie: I grew up in Burma Camp, Accra, Ghana. I played soccer since I was a little girl, and I continued to play in high School till I graduated. New York City is well-known for fashion industries and modeling agencies. Since residing here in New York City, I have developed a passion for modeling. Modeling was new to me when I came to the United States, so I decided to learn more about the industry and also have a good experience being a model.

AfricaNews: Why is an athlete so passionate about modeling?

Sarah: Being an athlete has kept me in good shape and that has given me the confidence to be comfortable in my own body. And as a model, it is very important for me to exercise.

AfricaNews: What do you hope to achieve with modeling in the future?

Sarah: I want to be very successful in modeling not only as an ambitious African, but to also have a huge impact on my fellow African ladies and ladies worldwide.

AfricaNews: What does it mean to you to be winner of America’s Next Top Model audition in Connecticut in the U.S?

Sarah: Winning the America’s Next Top Model audition for cycle 16 in CT has granted me an opportunity to a guaranteed audition with the producers of the show. I needed to win that audition in CT in order to move forward towards this big dream of mine, and this is a very good beginning towards something big in my life.

AfricaNews: How did you prepare towards that and did you see it coming?

Sarah: About a week before the audition, I really felt I wasn’t ready. Not only was I preparing for my summer school exams, but I had no choice but to go to the audition, because I strongly felt it was going to be such a good experience and an opportunity to take advantage of. What was even worse, at the audition, I didn’t yet receive a confirmation that proved that I was guaranteed an audition that day. Almost about a 100 ladies had already received their confirmation. Luckily, I had a chance to enter my name in a random selection process. Despite this chance, I still had to wait for a few hours for the results. It was one of the scariest feelings I ever had, because, if I wasn’t picked randomly, I wasn’t going to be on stage.

Charming Sarah Siakie in action for the lenses

Whiles waiting to be chosen, I pretended it wouldn’t be the end of my world just because I didn’t get a chance to enter that audition. I still cheered for many of the ladies who auditioned before me. I was never in a rush. I already knew my time would come for me to be on stage, and when it did, I was to be very prepared, because, I had already seen how the majority of the ladies being auditioned in the open. Half of me told me I would win, and other, thought I wouldn’t. I was nervous during the random selection, but I gained back my confidence on stage and that’s all it matters. I somehow saw it coming because I really showed a lot of efforts on stage.

AfricaNews: What has been your motivation?

Sarah: My mom’s determination towards giving me hope to achieve for the best in life has really been my inspiration. She didn’t have the best in life, yet the way she lives her life every day, encourages me to be a better person and hope for my dreams to be fulfilled. Even though she is not with me in the U.S, I still feel she is with me every minute of my stay here in New York.

AfricaNews: Why do you say you are ambitious, curious and adventurous on your Facebook profile?

Sarah: Ambitious: I was introduced to something new, modeling, and with that desire to be a model, I have been encouraged to work hard towards achieving that goal. I have competed against many beautiful women during this audition, and that gives me a boost of confidence to say that, regardless of where you come from, or who you are, it’s all about the determination and saying “no” to failure, and that makes me ambitious.

Curious: There is so much to learn from modeling and I still want to see more out there. I will keep “testing the waters” with my curiosity.

Adventure: Being an African and a model, I am definitely adventurous. I love traveling.

AfricaNews: Apart from modeling, what else do you do?

Sarah: I am a full time student in New York City College of Technology. I am majoring in Architecture and I am entering my third year. As an honor student in school, I must also keep my grades high as architecture will be the foundation of my life, and modeling has a comparatively short window of opportunity.

AfricaNews: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?

Sarah: Well, I hope to realize my passion as a model. I will also love to be in many different countries, inspiring determined women out there, to never give up their hopes and dreams of becoming somebody.

AfricaNews: Final words to your fans

Sarah: If you discover something in you, so strong that, it shows physically and mentally, let it out. If you have a passion for something, no matter how you discovered it, you are the only one who can encourage yourself to succeed in making that passion a reality. One thing! Do not be afraid to fail. I failed in my first two auditions in the earlier years, but that didn’t discourage me to keep trying. I wish you the best in succeeding in life.

Author’s blog: kentgh.wordpress.com

He says he is the cheekiest journalist in town [According to his twitter bio]. Yes, you can feel it in his writings on his blog and pronouncements on radio. Hate him or love him, Ato Kwamena Dadzie, a totally harmless but witty journalist has carved a niche for himself in the West African country as fearless and frees his mind.

He is an epitome of free expression and has had brushes with political authorities on several counts.

It came as no surprise to me when I first saw on a friend’s Facebook status that the acting news editor of top radio station Joy FM, Ato Kwamena Dadzie, has been charged for false publication intended to cause fear and harm in the West African nation Ghana. However, media moguls have reacted angrily to the incident that stands to ruin Ghana’s press freedom reputation.

I am not saying journalists are saints and are immune from being reprimanded of any wrong doing but the very moment you touch us you have touched the very essence of democracy. It is in this vain that I call on those at the helm of affairs to drop the case against our colleague who is standing by the tenets of the inky fraternity to protect his sources.

According to the station’s online edition – myjoyonline – Dadzie would be prosecuted on Wednesday for refusing to disclose sources of a news story the station aired in which it was reported that members of the Ghana Real Estate Development Agency (GREDA) received threatening text messages to back down on their opposition to a $10 billion housing project that government had entered into with Korea construction firm STX.

However, Dadzie wrote on his blog that he was bailed up to an equivalent tune of $4, 000 awaiting court appearance date from the police. “All I can say, for now, is that I am unfazed. I am hoping for the best but I’m very prepared for the worst,” he stated.

We are with you comrade. Stand for the truth and the truth shall set you FREEEEE.

It feels good to be associated with successful people. Oh yes, not all of us can win awards or attain fame but at least we can boast of a couple of friends who have cracked the nut.

I have never won an award in my life before except books at speech and prize given days way back in primary and junior high school [laughs]. But friends tell me I am exceptional and I always make them proud.

Of course, one does not have to win award(s) in order to stand out. But I am always proud of friends who are daring and ready to unlock even when it seems unachievable. One of such is Africa’s most decorated young investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

Just today I had a press release in my inbox saying the first ever Ghanaian winner in the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards is Felix Dela Klutse of the Daily Guide [An IIJ alumna]. “Wow!” I screamed as if I was the actual recipient.

Klutse beats journalists from publications across the continent and international outfits like Reuters, the BBC and the Economist. In Ghana we say “Ayekoo!” meaning CONGRATULATIONS.

I have known Klutse since our early days of journalism in the late 90s or early 20s. He has since metamorphosed into one of the finest business journalists in Ghana. No wonder he has achieved this feat. Keep your head up Klutse because this is just the beginning.

And congratulations to my mother company Africa Interactive for snatching the BEST USE OF NEW MEDIA IN A STORY category. Goed gedaan!  [Well Done!]

Author’s blog: kentgh.wordpress.com

Abi Rotimi explaining a point to me

Abi Yeni Rotimi is recognized internationally as one of the best African wedding photographers. He photographs a maximum of 35 exclusive wedding adventures a year worldwide. He believes photography is 90 per cent psychology and the remaining 10 per cent technical work. He said he began his current career by mistake.

Rotimi lives in London but travels the world over with his Canon 5D Mark I and II cameras capturing one of the happiest moments of couple’s life – weddings. He was in Ghana recently and I caught up with him at the La Paradise Inn in Accra, Ghana, for my news firm Africanews.com and he talked about his inspiration, passion and future plans.

AfricaNews: Briefly tell us about yourself?
Abi Yeni Rotimi: I am a social documentary and wedding photojournalist. I was born and raised in the United Kingdom but I have ancestry primarily in Nigeria and Ghana. As far as I am concerned the sky is the limit.

AfricaNews: What do you read?
Rotimi: When I was growing up I was very inquisitive. I enjoyed reading encyclopedia, history books and autobiographies. It has expanded my horizon now and gave me vision and ideas. They have enriched my photography career a lot.

AfricaNews: What about blogs and websites?
Rotimi: I try my best to stay away from blogs. I want to keep my work as authentic as possible that is why I try to get inspiration outside of photography. Sometimes during my wedding projects I picture a movie scene that suits the occasion. Two films that have really impacted on my photography are Steven King’s Shawshank Redemption and Titanic. I have watched those movies more than 30 times without getting bored and any time I watch them I get something different. It’s lazy to copy other people’s work from blogs and unfair that is why I stay away from blogs and websites.

AfricaNews: But we learn from other people.
Rotimi: Absolutely, we do learn from other people but photography is 90 per cent psychology and the remaining 10 per cent is the actual capturing of the image. So you really need to learn to read people, understand people and know what they want. I don’t think people would ever criticize me of copying because I try not to duplicate my own work. Anytime I pick up a camera it becomes a challenge because I want to do what I have done before differently. Of course, I might be influenced by other photographers from time to time but I try and go deep within myself to tell a story in the same location differently.

AfricaNews: Do you have a leisure time with all these travels here and there?
Rotimi: Indeed I have travelled quite a lot but I do have a leisure time. I’m learning to put the camera down. I’m learning to observe and not necessarily having to hold a camera. With that I have discovered some of my hobbies like cooking and reading.

AfricaNews: Who’s the greatest love of your time?
Rotimi: God. Sometimes in life when you start in a journey you can’t envision that direction it is going to take you. I started photography by mistake. This is how it all began; a friend of mine had a wedding but he couldn’t cover it and asked me to sit in for him. By then I was an editorial photographer. I didn’t want to but upon lengthy argument and persuasion I gave in. The couple were blown away and even I was blown away after looking at the final result. So that was how the interest grew up to this stage. And the inspiration came from a higher power – God. I have taken photography very seriously because weddings are one of the most important moments of people’s life. My pastor said there are three very important days in one’s life – the day you were born, the day you get married and the day you’ll die. So I can’t mess up with that stage in a client’s life who have entrusted that in me to capture that moment. I give 200 per cent to it.

AfricaNews: What inspired you to go further in photography?
Rotimi: There are certain things that people say to you that gives you encouragement. One of the reasons why I delved into wedding photography was that at the very initial stages there was a lot of influential Ghanaians that gave me the inspiration to keep my head up. My first commercial work was for Mr Kwaku and Stella Amponsah and up to now I remember what the man told me – ‘I trust your work and I trust you and I trust that you can deliver.’ It was so powerful to me especially when he gave me the money upfront. So in life people think and believe in you and are willing to invest in that. So for me I feel society has trusted in me and I have to give back to them especially Ghana.

AfricaNews: Where would you have ended up if you had not taken up this job?
Rotimi: I think one way or the other I would have eventually come down this road. Because the type of photography that appeal to my nature is very organic. I actually started as a print maker then a portrait studio photographer. I did studied mathematics and physics at the university but I knew I wasn’t going to do nothing with it upon completion. In future I might decide to go back to that but at the moment I am really enjoying photography. I like shooting things that are deemed chaotic like weddings because you can never pre-plan it.

AfricaNews: But political rallies are more chaotic than weddings?
Rotimi: I have always told photographers who come to me for ideas that try and put the camera down first and learn about things that appeal to you first. It makes it easy to do photography. Politics or current affairs do not hold my attention so I don’t go there. With politics you can always get it wrong and do it all over again at different rallies but with weddings you just have a limited time, one day and one chance to get it right for two people from different walks of life. I might decide in the future to just travel around Africa and document different cultures and tribes. I am thinking about it at the moment.

AfricaNews: If I gave you ten times what you earn now to go into political photography would you dare?
Rotimi: I have always advised photographers not to think money first but do it for the joy that the profession brings. I don’t think I would ever do photography just for the sake of money. It is a discipline and an art that requires respect and must be treated delicately.

AfricaNews: How many weddings do you take in a year?
Rotimi: I started doing a lot of weddings in a year but at the moment I more or less vet contracts that come my way. I want to focus more on quality than quantity so in terms of number wise in a year I average about 30.

AfricaNews: What is your favourite camera?
Rotimi:  I have moved into digital photography now but my favourite is still film. I used to use Kodak among others. I have got Canon 5D Mark I and II among others.

AfricaNews: What is the most difficult aspect of wedding photography?
Rotimi: Crowd control especially in our African setting. As a wedding photographer you have to learn how to manage people because at the end of the day they are important to the couple while you are just a photographer hired just for the day. You have to find a balance between capturing the day and managing the people. You have to be friendly.

AfricaNews: Black and White and colour photographs what attracts you?
Rotimi: If I could have my way, personally I would issue black and white. Apart from the contrast and the colours, black and white have a bit more character. Colour at times can be a bit disruptive although at times you can have vibrant varieties especially when you take traditional African weddings. It’s a difficult topic though.

AfricaNews: How many photographs do you take during weddings and how many do you present?
Rotimi: That’s interesting and a debate going on in the industry. However, I try not to get trigger happy. It is about how you can tell the story and anticipate the moment. That is why I said photography is about 90 per cent psychology – learning about the people – and the remaining 10 per cent is having the technical know-how to respond to the people’s request. So what happens on a particular day determines the amount of photographs I shoot. I try my best to end up with what I need.

AfricaNews: Most memorable assignment?
Rotimi: It was a double wedding I covered in 2008. I had to rethink how I shoot because I was shooting for two different brides on the same day with one camera and one set of eyes. I was actually on my feet and I enjoy such challenges. It pushes one beyond what you are used to. One thing about photography is that you should never be complacent but always willing to learn.

AfricaNews: Whose wedding are you dying to photograph?
Rotimi: That’s a tough one. I don’t have anyone in particular. But I think it would be a challenge to shoot a top photographer’s wedding.

AfricaNews: Where are you yearning to be for a wedding assignment?
Rotimi: The only place I haven’t done so far is South America. I have a potential wedding next year [2011] in Cuba. I would also love to do a wedding in Mexico.

AfricaNews: Who would you love to take your wedding photographs?
Rotimi: All my friends are actually photographers so we have come to the conclusion that on our wedding we are going to hire someone who doesn’t know that we are photographers to shoot our weddings. All my Best Men are going to be photographers too.

AfricaNews: What time frame should we consider before someone books you for a wedding?
Rotimi: We are looking at six months to a year.

AfricaNews: Where do you see the industry in the next five years?
Rotimi: Well the transition between film and digital in Africa especially in places like Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia and Togo hasn’t been that smooth. You still see photographers using traditional film cameras. Some of them are creative but you can’t tell whether it is due to lack of appreciation for the profession or affordability. I’m trying to aspire photographers I am training to believe that they can support their family with the profession but not until you place value in it. It is wrong to see a photographer having a glass of wine in one hand and the camera in the other. It is not professional. They need to dress up properly. When photographers learn to appreciate what they are doing then people would invest in them. Nevertheless, we are going to see some fantastic photographers in Africa in the next five years judging from the kind of photos I have been seeing with the limited resources.

AfricaNews: What do you hope to achieve in the next 5-10 years?
Rotimi: I would probably get into film as a script writer. That does not mean I would stop photography but I’ll tone down.

AfricaNews: Role models
Rotimi: At the early stage of my career some photographers in the persons of Bambi Cantrell, Man Ray, Herb Ritz, Danny DA Costa and Thabo Jaiyesimi inspired me a lot.

AfricaNews: Advise to upcoming photographers
Rotimi: First, Be yourself because people buy into you first before your photography. No matter how great your photography is if you are a nasty person people would not respect you. Secondly, learn to take pictures without a camera because it is just an extension of your eyes. The camera doesn’t take the pictures you do. If you learn about what appeals to your nature it helps you to know the kind of photography that would interest you. It is good to specialize in a key area and perfect it.

See more of Abi’s photos here

Author’s blog: kentgh.wordpress.com

“Football is a universal sport and it must be accessible to everyone,” said FIFA President Joseph Blatter.

“We are therefore delighted to be able to make this unique live experience in the stadium also accessible to visually impaired and blind people.

“This project is another launching pad for South African sports and will create a legacy with services and facilities at football grounds for visually impaired and blind South Africans.”

The premier project was launched by the Swiss National Association for the Blind and the South African National Council for the Blind and was given financial backing from FIFA.

Arrangements have been made for sight guides and volunteers to accompany the blind supporters within the stadiums.

The stadiums offering this service are:

Johannesburg – Soccer City Stadium: 8 matches
Johannesburg – Ellis Park Stadium: 7 matches
Tshwane/Pretoria – Loftus Versfeld Stadium: 6 matches
Durban – Durban Stadium: 7 matches
Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth – Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium: 8 matches
Cape Town – Green Point Stadium: 8 matches